Cotter.



H. H. SHELTON.

COTTER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-15.1914.

Patented Apr. 17, 191?.

HOWARD H. SHELTON, 0F AKRON, OHIO.

coarse.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 117, 11917.

Application filed October 15, 1914.. Serial No. 866,786.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD H. SHELTON, a citizen of the United States, residingat Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cotters, of which the following is a. specification.

This invention relates to improvements in cotters and has especial relation to that class of cotter in which the shank ends of the cotters may be spread apart or separated by a blow or pressure on the head of the cotter to position the same in a locked position.

The object of the invention is to provide a cotter the ends of which are initially in close contact to permit the'insertion of the cotter in an opening and afterward capable of being separated from each other when the cotter is positioned solely by pressure or a blow applied to the head or looped end thereof.

Briefly, c'otters have been produced which are provided with the ends adapted to be spread apart or separated after the positioning of the cotters by a blow or pressure on the head thereof, but none of these cotter so far as I am informed are provided with approximately parallel shanks with the ends initially in close contact previous to their being locked in position.

\Vith the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts constituting the invention to be hereinafter specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof wherein is shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which come within the scope of the matter hereinafter claimed.

In the drawings in which similar reference numerals indicate like parts in the different figures,

Figure 1, is a view in side elevation of a cotter positioned in a suitable opening sh0wing the cotter as initially formed; and,

Fig. 2, is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the formation of the cotter to lock it in position.

The cotter which forms the subject matter of this invention initially comprises a pair of shank ends 1 and 2 preferably parallel with each other to provide contacting faces3 as shown in the drawings. The

opposite end of the cotter is formed into a loop elongated in a line with the axis of the cotter and provided with outer inclined portions 4 and 5 and the outwardly-inclined portions terminating at the point 6 which is the point of greatest width of the cotter head and above which the portions 4 and 5 are united by an integral arch or arcuate curved portion constituting the head 7. As customarily constructed, cotters are provided with approximately. annularly-formed heads or eyes, any blow or pressure applied to which after the positioning of the cotter will tend to flatten. the head without having corresponding efl'ect as to the shank portions thereof, but in the present case when pressure or a blow is applied to the head portion 7 of the cotter the inclined portions 4 and 5 will engage the side walls-of the opening 8 in the member 9 and be inwardly-bent toward each other causing the upper ends of the shank portions 1 and 2 to bend at 10 and consequently fulcrum on each other at this point and the metal i not only bent but upset to force the ends 1 and 2 widely apart as shown in Fig. 2, the metal bending or upsetting at the point 10 to accomplish this result. The effect of a. blower pressure on the head 7 not only has the tendency to temporarily spring the ends 1 and 2 apart or away from each other but also permanently upsets the metal and gives a fixed set thereto so that the cotter is thereby given the formation shown in Fig. 2 which effectually looks it in position in the opening 8, against motion in either direction without any further bending or spreading of the ends 1 and 2 away from each other. This effect is accomplished so far as I am able to ascertain, by the peculiar formation of the head of the cotter and the position of acquired fulcrum at the point 10 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. If, as before stated, the head of the cotter was approximately annular as is now the common practice, a blow or impact imparted to the head 7 of the cotter will simply flatten or distort the head and would have no efl'ect whatsoever as to the disposition or movement of the shank ends 1 and 2.

Experience with this form of cotter clearly demonstrates that it is so fashioned that after its insertion in an opening it may be locked in position by pressure or impact delivered to the head sufliciently to hold it against any ordinary force tending to withdraw it, thus making it an exceedingly useful device, which obviates the use of time and a special tool for separating the ends of the cotter and bending them widely apart after the positioning of the same.

I claim 1. A cotter having a pair of shanks the ends of which are initially in contact and the balance thereof in approximate parallelism and in contact with each other and formed integrally with a loop elongated in the line of the axis of the cotter, the portions of the loop extending from the shanks to the point of greatest diameter of the loop inclined and adapted to be engaged by the side walls of an' opening into which the cotter is set, thereby to cause the shanks of the cotter to fulcrum on each other and to be bent apart at said point of junction to spread the ends thereof away from each other and impart thereto a permanent set for locking the cotter in position.

2. A cotter including a pair of shanks contacting throughout their lengths and having a looped head formed integral with the in ner ends thereof, said cotter pin adapted for insertion in an opening of greater diameter than the combined cross-sectional areas of the shanks and of less diameter than the looped head whereby pressure upon the looped end to force the same into the opening will cause the shanks to spread and so be frictionally held.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HOWARD H. SHELTON.

Witnesses:

A. L. McCmNTooK, C. E. HUMPHREY. 

